MARCH 21 2011 marks the start of Climate Change Week, when a series of activities will be planned across the UK around the environment.

One of the hottest issues expected to be debated during this week and in the months and years ahead is the nation’s growing energy crisis.  With London being the largest hub for professional services and public sector organisations in the UK with over 12 million PCs in use, Qubic believes that a simple initiative like PC Power Down where PCs can be set to be turned off automatically at a specified time, will make a huge difference.

Climate change is a real issue and one of the biggest culprits of high CO2 emissions are computers.  One PC left on all the time would be expected to produce 0.8 tonnes of CO2 per year.  Not only is this a shocking amount of CO2 being released into the atmosphere, but it means that companies are paying higher energy bills than necessary. 

A typical desktop PC, if left on all the time will waste at least an average of £25 per year and create over half a tonne of C02 emissions every year, an incredible waste for PCs to do nothing. For larger organisations, this quickly adds up to thousands of pounds and tonnes of CO2.

A very practical and achievable solution being offered by Qubic is PC Power Down.  PC Power Down comprises scheduling software that runs on a computer that lets an administrator control the switching off and on of a variety of equipment including; computers, printers, photocopiers, overhead projectors, water coolers, in fact just about any type of electrical equipment. 

The bus, which is supplied by their friends at The Big Lemon, runs on Biodiesel produced from recycled cooking oil so they intend to minimise emissions. It will also be truly green being covered by Astroturf from the leading supplier in the UK, Trulawn.

PC Power Down will be looking for the support of the Mayor of London (who is opening the conference on Monday), and the Prime Minister and Environmental Minister, by getting them to visit the Big Green Bus during their tour around London.

PC Power Down has approached main corporate sponsors to support the event who specialise in solutions that reduce the cost and consumption of energy whilst also reducing environmental impact and are world leaders in their own respective fields.  These include one of the UK’s leading building merchants (Travis Perkins plc), The Big Green Book, LED lighting (Armadillo), solar panels (MAID), environmental facilities management (In2sequence) whilst not forgetting the organisers PC Power Down.  The Big Green Bus will also be assisting a number of charitable environmental organisations such as Carbon Leapfrog (business led charity channelling pro bono support from corporate firms into community based low carbon projects) and which will help carry on the spirit and ethos of Big Green Bus’ mission throughout the coming year.

The Big Green Bus is targeted at businesses, schools, local authorities and local communities, and whilst we are celebrating Climate Week we will also be raising people’s awareness of the financial benefits of taking environmental action.  This awareness will assist them in the short term during this time of financial strain whether that is in the home, the school, local council or business.

Apart from saving money and feeling good about reducing our individual impact on the environment we live in (which also means improved air quality, cleaner water and beaches), the UK has a much bigger problem looming just down the road.

Our thirst for increased amounts of energy at home, in the office and at school is now significantly stretching the capabilities of the National Grid, and the previous government forecast that we would face power cuts by 2013 as published in The Times newspaper.  This is due to the decommissioning of nuclear power stations, the desired decrease in coal fired power stations and the UK’s inability to close the energy gap with credible alternatives other than importing energy from other countries, which is likely to increase our energy bills even further.

Whilst energy cuts in the short term may be inevitable, there are some simple things we can do like automating the shut down of equipment, micro-generation and localised energy generation schemes which can play a significant part in closing the energy gap in the UK.

In summary, the Big Green Bus is about helping homes, schools, local council offices and businesses save money through energy reduction and generation.

We look forward to you boarding the Big Green Bus!